TriMet, Milwaukie celebrate McLoughlin's early reopening

TriMet and Milwaukie city officials celebrate Monday morning the reopening of Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard/Highway 99E ahead of schedule after crews worked around the clock to put large steel girders in place for a light-rail bridge over McLoughlin.

The Milwaukie is Open for Business celebration is at 8 a.m. Aug. 19, at Milwaukie City Hall on Main Street.

It marks the reopening of McLoughlin Boulevard Sunday afternoon, nearly 11 hours ahead of schedule. The busy highway was closed for 44 hours as crews lifted six large steel girders in place as part of the Kellogg Bridge project that will carry Orange Line trains into downtown Milwaukie over Kellogg Lake.

The celebration also marks the end of other summer construction projects wrapping up in downtown Milwaukie.

Most of the work was part of the $1.49 billion Portland-to-Milwaukie light-rail line that is expected to open in September 2015.